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Understanding Drug Addiction: Why Can’t I Stop Using Drugs?

Being a drug addict doesn’t necessarily make understanding drug addiction any simpler. Not only are there misconceptions about the disease of addiction, but many people don’t truly understand what it means or even looks like to have a drug addiction. Some drug addicts don’t even understand just how badly they are hooked on substances. Others wonder why they just cannot stop or stay stopped.

Definition of Drug Addiction

If you are someone who continues to use drugs even when you have suffered consequences as a result, then you may be suffering from a drug addiction. Obsessing over taking drugs and feeling compelled to use them even when you don’t want to may indicate that you have a drug addiction as well. You may even find that you are addicted to drugs if you try stopping but return to them because of a compulsive need to use them again. Addiction is very misunderstood, even by addicts who suffer from the disease. It’s not unusual for addicts to think they have everything “under control” when in reality, they can’t help but continue to use drugs because of a mental and physical obsession. Drug addiction is a disease, and it’s one that should not be ignored or underestimated.

Why Do I Keep Using Drugs?

Addiction is a disease, but how? The classification of addiction as a disease explains why an addict cannot stop using on their own or stay stopped without some form of treatment, whether that is through a medical detox and inpatient drug rehab, outpatient therapy, counseling, and/or peer support. The nature of the disease is that the addict wants more, even when they don’t want to turn to the drug anymore or have suffered legal, financial, and relationship problems. After using drugs and becoming hooked, the brain is impacted in a way that can easily result in intense cravings and a sensation of “needing” the drug to function.

Treatment for Drug Addiction

While drug addiction can be confusing, one point cannot be stressed enough: recovery is possible. Living in active addiction to drugs can be devastating for the individual and anybody close to them or in their life. Suffering from a drug addiction can take years off your life, put you at risk for an fatal overdose, or increase your chances of contracting serious diseases like HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, cancer, and more. But these are all consequences, which are not usually enough to deter an addict from using. Drug addiction is a disease that needs to be treated. Scare tactics and consequences aren’t going to stop any other disease from worsening, so why should drug addiction be any different? In spite of the stigma on addiction, there is treatment available that can provide the critical help that drugs addicts truly need to recover. Drug treatment programs that begin with a medical detox and inpatient drug rehab can be extremely effective because they allow addicts enough time to get off the substances safely and receive help for underlying issues that they turn to substances to resolve. Once a drug addict begins their recovery, it is critical for them to work to maintain it through support groups, recover meetings, 12 Step Fellowships, therapy, etc. After all, addiction is a disease that can be treated but there is no cure. Recovery is a continual process.

Are you struggling with a drug addiction and unsure about what to do? The Watershed Addiction Treatment Programs is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to helping addicts and alcoholics rebuild their lives. Addicts can and do recover. You can too, with the help of The Watershed. Call the Watershed today at 1-800-861-1768.